Search Lately: Issue 21 Weekly Search Round Up Highlights in the world of search this week include key differentiations in marketing for non-Google dominated markets, Chrome overtaking Firefox in the Internet Browser war while online shopping continues to explode with ever minute that passes... Call Metrics Now Available In UK DECEMBER 2011 – Call extensions and metrics are now available in the UK giving Brands the opportunity to Google forwarding number and a new cost per phone call metric. www.google.com/ads/innovations/callmetrics.html
POV: Brands can now monitor and view call performance through Adwords by implementing a new call metric that installs a Google generated forwarding number at no extra cost. A bid per call system will be used whereby you only pay for a connected call made through to this number at a minimium bid per call starting at a £1. It also seems Google is incentivising customers to take on this call metric by placing it as a key driver in the way Google calculates AdRank going forward. This means that if your competitor starts using this call metric then they may have an advantage in the Google AdRanking system game... – Kevin Ting Google Rule But Not Everywhere 07 DECEMBER 2011 – While Google dominate the search engine market worldwide, certain countries including China, Japan & Russia still are yet to cave to their ever increasing powers, with key differentiating search strategies required for these markets... searchenginewatch.com/article/2130613/The-Other-Googles-Succeeding-on-Foreign-SearchEngines
POV: It is essential for anyone looking to develop their international Brand into any of these non-Google dominated countries to be aware of the marketing strategy difference required. For example Baidu insist that your site not only has a Chinese domain but also be hosted on a server physically located within the country and also place a larger emphasis on Meta tags unlike their rivals Google. Yandex meanwhile value the outbound as well as inbound links to relevant sites unlike Google who are only interested in outbound linking for ranking purposes... – Kevin Ting Chrome Overtakes Firefox For The 1st Time 05 DECEMBER 2011 – Google Chrome for the 1st time is more popular than its competitor browser Mozilla Firefox. However Chrome is still in 2nd place to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer who still holds 40.6% share of the global browser market. googlewatch.eweek.com/content/google_chrome/chrome_bloating_like_firefox_users_claim.ht ml
POV: There are a number of reasons why Google Chrome has risen in popularity at such a staggering rate and overtaken its less user-friendly competitor Firefox, primarily Chrome is better looking, faster and does not request for you to endlessly update it. Will users remain loyal to Chrome? With Google gradually monopolising the search landscape it is a very likely and expected development... - Hannah Struve
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Search Lately: Issue 21 Online Shopping Increases By 42% Year On Year 05 DECEMBER 2011 – E-commerce continues to play an important role for both consumer and retailer while mobile commerce explodes as it is growing ever imperative that retailers ensure they are not missing out on this opportunity. Online shopping increased dramatically, despite worries over the economy, compared to the last 2 weeks (week before, and Thanksgiving week) in November last year proving that consumers willingness to buy online grows... www.searchenginejournal.com/online-shopping-up-by-42-e-and-m-commerce-play-increasinglysignificant-roles-for-retailers/37274/
POV: With more mobile platforms available to consumers today it has become increasingly easier and more efficient to do your shopping on the move. It's more important than ever before to ensure users on your site are converting. Making sure your website is correctly optimized and having a mobile site as well as a mobile optimised paid search campaign are now key factors which have to be in the forefront of a marketing strategy in the build up to Christmas, and also heading into 2012 and beyond.... - Jimisha Lakhani
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Search Lately: Issue 21 Google Analytics – Product Update In recent months Google have been working away on their analytics package and have developed many new features with the latest edition of Google Analytics. Google have announced that the option to remain opted out of the new version being turned off in January 2012, now is an ideal time to start getting to grips with the new improved features that Google Analytics now has... mashable.com/2011/11/30/google-analytics-new-features/
POV: Key developments within the Google Analytics package include (more included in article above): 1. Real Time Data – While it has always taken up to 24 hours to see the most recent data in Google Analytics, Google now offers a real time service that tracks key metrics such as page views, keywords, referrals and user activity within site. 2. Visitor Flow & Goal Flow Visualization – Announced back in October but has now only started to be rolled out in the past few weeks, provides an easy to understand visualisation of most popular user paths and drop-off points within the site for optimisation purposes.
3. Event Tracking – This feature allows event tracking functionality such as pdf downloads and time duration of video views to be tracked without the implementation of special coding that may affect other key metrics within Google Analytics.
4. Multi Channel Funnels – This is a feature that Has previously been highlighted within Search Lately a couple weeks ago that tracks user interactions with site 30 days prior to a conversion across channels (Organic, PPC, Direct, Social etc) to be enable cross channel attribution to be applied and a thorough understanding of the effectiveness of a channel beyond the last click model.
- Kevin Ting
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Sources www.searchenginejournal.com googlewatch.eweek.com mashable.com www.google.com searchenginewatch.com
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Follow Us on Twitter @EmergingSpaces @SMGSearchUK @SearchLately Publisher Kevin Ting Contributors Jimisha Lakhani Hannah Struve